Early the next morning, Lexon left behind a gift of his own and bid farewell to Sakonji Urokodaki.
"I'm heading out, Teacher. I'll bring Tanjiro and the others to visit later," Lexon said to Sakonji Urokodaki.
"Safe travels," Sakonji Urokodaki said, watching him with a gentle expression as he offered his advice.
"Yeah," Lexon nodded in response.
After leaving his teacher's home, Lexon didn't choose to go to Tanjiro's side first. Instead, he headed toward the former headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, which was now the Ubuyashiki estate.
He planned to check on Kagaya Ubuyashiki's condition first.
According to what Teacher Sakonji said, the former Master of the Demon Slayer Corps seemed to have very little time left.
He was on the brink of death.
He was barely clinging to life with the help of various medicines provided by doctors.
Lexon had a good impression of this Master.
He was a smooth talker.
And a good leader.
Thus, Lexon harbored the thought of saving him if he could.
In any case, with his current strength, using the Six Paths Yang Power to heal him wouldn't cost much.
There was no harm in saving him.
It would prevent this world from losing a familiar face.
The journey took very little time.
Compared to the past when traveling would take him at least several days, his current speed was clearly far beyond before—ridiculously fast.
In his normal state, it only took him a dozen minutes to fly to the familiar Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
This couldn't help but remind him of the time he had chased a train for ages in this world.
The difference between now and then was truly like night and day...
...
The former Demon Slayer Corps headquarters was still filled with the scent of wisteria.
The bitter winter and falling snow hadn't caused the wisteria to wither; they seemed as magnificent and mysterious as ever.
Lexon stopped at the main gate.
Compared to before, there were no longer any Demon Slayer Corps members guarding the gate.
Lexon walked in without seeing a single person trying to block his path.
Until he approached the Ubuyashiki estate.
Someone wearing the uniform of the "Kakushi," the logistics unit of the former Demon Slayer Corps, came forward to meet him.
'Are there still Kakushi members? Weren't they disbanded?'
The moment he saw the person, Lexon wondered to himself.
"Please stop..." This person in the Kakushi uniform was a woman, and she spoke to Lexon to restrain him.
Seeing Lexon's fair and handsome face, her cheeks beneath her face veil couldn't help but redden. She slightly lowered her head, avoiding his gaze, and said, "Please state your purpose for being here."
"To visit the Master," Lexon replied.
"The Master?" Hearing this title, the Kakushi member asked doubtfully, "Are you a former member of the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"Yeah," Lexon nodded.
"And your name is?" The Kakushi member's tone became much gentler.
Demon Slayer Corps members were people who fought demons with the resolve to sacrifice their lives; naturally, she would treat him with respect.
"Lexon," Lexon said.
"Lexon?!!" The Kakushi member suddenly looked up at Lexon. Only then did she realize that while the person before her looked different from her memory, the images gradually overlapped. She exclaimed in shock, "The Mist Hashira???"
"Yes, it's me," Lexon answered warmly.
"I'm so sorry, Mist Hashira! I didn't recognize you just now!" The woman in the Kakushi uniform quickly bowed her head in apology.
"It's fine. It's normal not to recognize me," Lexon said.
He knew his appearance had changed quite a bit compared to before. If someone hadn't seen him many times, the difficulty of recognizing him at a glance would be high.
"I am truly sorry, Mist Hashira, even though I've seen you many times before..."
"You've seen me?" Lexon didn't have any impression of her at all.
"Back at the Hashira Meeting..." the Kakushi member explained, her words tinged with self-blame.
'The Mist Hashira is the great person who ended the demons... ended the tragic fate... and I actually didn't recognize him...'
"I see... No need to worry about it," Lexon comforted her.
"The Mist Hashira is here to visit the Master, right?" the Kakushi member confirmed in a respectful tone.
"Yeah."
"Please follow me."
The Kakushi member immediately led Lexon toward the interior of the Ubuyashiki estate.
"The Demon Slayer Corps has been disbanded. Weren't the Kakushi disbanded as well?" Lexon asked her on the way.
"I volunteered to stay behind and serve the Master. Wearing this uniform is just a habit," she responded respectfully.
"Is that so..." Lexon murmured.
The walk didn't take long. Following the female member who had stayed voluntarily, Lexon soon arrived in front of a bedroom door.
"Master, the Mist Hashira requests an audience." The female member knocked on the sliding door several times and spoke respectfully.
"Please come in." The voice of Kagaya Ubuyashiki's wife, Amane Ubuyashiki, came from inside the room.
The female member pulled back the screen and gestured to Lexon, respectfully inviting him inside.
Lexon walked into the dim bedroom.
It was a room filled with the scent of medicine.
It was also a very familiar room.
That night's Hashira Meeting had been held here once.
Now, there weren't as many people in the room as before.
There was only Amane Ubuyashiki kneeling by the bedding and Kagaya Ubuyashiki lying there with his eyes closed.
The marks of his disease had spread across his entire body.
It looked somewhat terrifying and gruesome.
If it weren't for the exceptionally faint sound of breathing...
One would truly suspect that the person lying on the bedding was a corpse...
"Lexon?" On the bedding, Kagaya Ubuyashiki's lips moved slightly, and an extremely weak voice came from his mouth.
"Yeah, it's me." Lexon looked at his current state and responded expressionlessly.
"Welcome back." Kagaya Ubuyashiki's incredibly weak voice still carried that indescribable gentleness.
It still sounded so heartwarming.
"Yeah, I'm back."
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